It was odd. The feeling of being alone, wind tugging gently at his fur, but without the voices he’d been so accustomed to.
He was scared, perhaps. Maybe even a bit confused. But he knew his gods were with him, great Sobek at his shoulder, Sopdu’s sky wide above his head, Ra’s sun kissing his shoulders from behind the clouds. Akhtar breathed out a quick prayer to his patrons, sparing a thought and a small amount of his words for Thoth’s wisdom in this new endeavor, before he carried on through the prairie he found himself in, grasses brushing against his underside.
He had hope. He had his dreams. He had the smell of lupine in his nostrils, the wolves that seemed to inhabit this land, who he had observed from a distance.
Akhtar took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he carried on, letting wind brush through his coat.
ramesses walked with his usual retinue. he had been struck by determination. with both sabah and sakai occupied, pharaoh turned his mind to other expansions.
a tall figure caught the royal gaze. ramesses felt his curiosity alight. long limbs carried him forward in a proud rhythm.
pharaoh did not speak. a wave of his plume kept his guards back. the lapis eyes held the stranger. curious. not a wolf. but by now he had decided not to care so very much.
ramesses waited.
There were wolves in the prairie.
Akhtar stopped walking, stopped moving, to look at the approaching wolves. He gave a little dip of his head in greeting, flashing a quick smile.
Salutations.
Oh dear, he was a tall fellow wasnt he, dressed in white and gold furs with shockingly blue eyes.
Was this Ra? Akhtar did not wish to ask, but for him to be here…well. He kept his mouth shut, not wishing to offend this figure by comparing him to a god he may not understand. That was how you got slain.
what an odd creature! ramesses hid his amusement, for there was a serenity in the man that he did not himself possess.
"greetings. to what do i owe your presence near the land of akashingo?" he half turned, motioning toward the proud greatness of the mesa looming over the flatlands.
the royal returned his stare to the stranger, searching for any sign that might tell him whatever response was a lie. the guards of akashingo were close; he need only wave them closer.
Akhtar’s gaze swept past the gold spun royal, to the Mesa he indicated with those broad sweeps of his body, before the dog’s serene gaze was on the wolf again.
I have been wandering beneath the gaze of the gods. Perhaps they have seen fit for my path to intersect your own.
He gave another small dip of his head.
I am Akhtar. A priest of Ra.
if he was interested before, ramesses felt himself sharpen into a golden spearpoint of focused fascination at the words of the other. for a long while he did not speak.
"i am Ramesses of the Red Sand, Beloved of Amun, He Who Opens the Mountain." his lapis gaze leveled upon the other he knew would know him to be a godhead and worthy of the high nature of a priest.
"how have you come to be here, hem ahktar?"
He was in the presence of a beloved of Amun, the blessings of Ra upon his shoulders. Akhtar took in a sharp breath at his new knowledge, and capitalized on it with a deep bow of this time. A beloved of the gods, why, he was in the presence of royalty it seemed!
Hail be to you, Ramesses of the Red Sand, and may Amun-Ra smile down upon you.
The dog got out hurriedly, before he stood back up again, nervously lifting one front leg to scratch idly at the other.
A great many things, a great many cruel things, leveled against my home and my people. They think me dead, but I have survived.
The priest got out around his own fascination with the gold plate man.
"the gods have brought us together, akhtar. akashingo does not yet have a priest. there is one i wish to make hemet. you will stand together as holy beings." not in the way that he was, but with a great deal of respect granted them.
and he had already decided that akhtar would return with him to the mesa. his palace was a lovely and indulgent place, but it must remain righteous in the sight of the gods.
Truly, a place in need of a priest. A hemet to compliment him. They were to be holy beings, bringing forth the word of the gods, and Akhtar could only be grateful that Pharoah had looked at him and not decided he was food instead of friend, instead of the channel for the godhead.
As is your want, I will follow.
He murmured in agreement, closing his eyes to send a quick prayer to the skies for this fortuitous day.
last post for meee looking forward to their antics together!
akhtar was given a nod. "you will be granted the luxuries of the fellahin and your own quarters, priest. our altars are built at the top of the mesa, where they might be touched by Ra's gaze each day." ramesses was walking as he spoke.
the guards fell in behind them.
it was quite an auspicious time. akashingo would thrive.